Ainoghena Igetei, an associate computer engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate at Rome, New York, was recognized as a Modern Day Technology Leader at the Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) STEM Global Competitiveness Conference held Feb. 7-9 in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy photo)

ROME RESEARCH LABORATORY, New York – Ainoghena Igetei, an associate computer engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate here, was recognized as a Modern Day Technology Leader at the Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) STEM Global Competitiveness Conference held Feb. 7-9 in Washington, D.C.

Igetei’s work contributes to advancements in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), with a specific emphasis on Autonomous Systems and Machine Learning (ML). AI/ML provides computers the ability to perform tasks without being explicitly programmed how to do it. His research and application development is motivated by operational Air Force and Department of Defense problem domains and constraints. This includes development of new fundamental ML techniques and the application of state-of-the-art-learning, such as Deep Learning, Interactive Learning, Transfer Learning, and Reinforcement Learning. Real-world applications include autonomous navigation, object detection, audio processing and natural language understanding, large-scale swarm control of small Unmanned Aerial Systems, and cyber threat detection.

Developing these new, potentially game changing AI/ML techniques contributes to the Information Directorate’s reputation as the Air Force and Nation’s premier research organization for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, and Cyber technologies. It is this type of research that Igetei is leading that will continue to provide air, space and cyberspace forces the competitive advantage needed to protect and defend the nation.

The goal of the BEYA Conference is to create connections between students, educators and STEM professionals while facilitating partnerships with individuals and their local STEM resources. Igetei has been chosen for this honor due to his continual commitment to excellence, continuous improvement, and his skills in developing new employees entering the field.